Agostino bogati and louis abonne



A. ROGATI AND L. ARONNE.

SOUND BOX FOR F'HUNOGRAPHS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 26, I9I9.

1,346,685, Patented July 13,1920.

WITNESSES INVENTORS KM Z ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AGOSTINO ROGA'II Ann Louis nno'nnn, or new YORK, N. Y.

SOUND-BOX FOR FHONOGRAPHS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 13, 1920.

Application filed April; 26, 1919. Serial 110. 292,803.

I '0 all whom it may concern:

borough of lllanhattan, in the county and State of New York, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Sound-Boxes for Phonographs, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to talking or sound reproducing,machines and hasparticular reference to sound boxes therefor.

Among the objects of the invention is to improve the generalconstruction of sound boxes with respect to the front and rear wallsthereof, and the means for connecting the periphery of one wall to thatof the other.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved stylus barwith respect to the manner'ofsupporting it in or upon the sound box,,the means for sccuring a needle therein or thereto, and meanscooperating with the stylus bar for varying the volume or timbre of thetone produced by the machine. V b

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists inthe arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described andclaimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact detailsof construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose ofillustrating a. practical embodiment thereof reference is had to theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate thesame parts in the several views, and in which I Figure 1 is a partialfront elevation of our improved sound box, parts being broken away todisclose details of construction.

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and I i Fig.4: is a detail perspective view of the sound regulator.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings we show a sound boxcomprising front and rear walls 10 and 11 respectively which areillustrated as being of convexo concave form and with circularperipheries. We wish it to be understood, however, that we are not to belimited unnecessarily to the particular shape or construction of suchparts. We find for the purpose of these walls that hard rubber, or itsequivalent, is

very satisfactory. The means for connecting the side walls "to eachother through their peripheries comprises a rim 12 of metal or someother suitable rigid material, the same having a threaded seat 13 forconnection with the similarly threaded periphery of the plate 10, andhaving a groove 14 for receiving the periphery of the back plate 11.Otherwise the inner'facc of the ring or rim 12 is substantiallysmoothand cylindrical for facilitating the insertion of the diaphragmandits holding means. The rear wall is provided with a central hub "15"of any suitable design for attachment to the tone arm connection. p

The diaphragm 16' is shown as of any suitable sheet material such asmica, celluloid or metal'for which purpose we have found aluminum to bevery suitable, and this diaphragm is preferably corrugated concentricwith its center leaving a flat rim portion that is gripped between twocushions 17 which likewise are gripped between the periphery of the backdisk and filler ring 18 adjacent tothe peripheryof thev front disk 10.These several parts being held in proper position by the tightening ofthefront disk in its seat 13.

The stylus bar 19 is connected as usual at 20 to the center of thediaphragm but adjacent to the point of connection it is given a rightangular turn in a direction parallel or coincident with the axis of thediaphragm and thence bent again forming a shoulder 21 just within butspaced from the inner face of the front disk 10. Thence the stylus baris directed downward between the disks and is provided with a bearingtrunnion 22 having conical bearing points supporting the same at 23which bearing points are coaxial and arranged within the space betweenthe disks and within the annular rim 12. As a suitable means ofconstructing the stylus bar and the trunnion support therefor we makethe trunnion and a downtion. The needle, however, may be easilywithdrawn by the operators fingers for renewal. Except for theflexibility of the tongue 27 the entire stylus bar and needle chuck arepivoted as shown within the rim 12 for a slight oscillation around theaxis of the bearing points 23.

Serving as a guard for the needle chuck and needle and to insure anapproximate similarity of appearance between our improvement and thestandard sound boxes we provide a thimble 29 loosely surrounding thechuck and needle so as to insure free movement thereof, said thimblebeing tapped into a hole 30 formed in the lower portion of the rim 12.It will be noted that the use of a set screw is not necessary in thiscon struction and the renewal of needles may be accomplished much moreeasily and rapidly than when a set screw is used.

A supporting arch 31 of any suitable na ture such as a strip of metal isemployed beneath the diaphragm rings so as to pre vent contact betweensaid rings and the stylus bar. This arch may be supported in place byany suitable means as by attachment to the rear wall or disk 11.

One of the most important features of our improvement consists of thetone regulator which is a device having mechanical con nection with someportion of the stylus for modifying the volume and timbre of the tone ina manner somewhat analogous to the action of a mute for a stringedinstrument. This regulator comprises a screw 32 tapped into the centralportion of the disk 10 opposite the shoulder 21 and having a cushion ofresilient material such as rubber 33 carried by the inner end thereofand adapted to be brought into more or less firm contact with saidshoulder when the screw 32 is turned by a milled head 3-1 accessiblefrom the front of the sound box. The regulator may he delicatelyadjusted by the means indicated control of the oscillations of thestylus bar to produce the desired result.

l ve claim:

The herein described sound box for talking machines comprising front andrear spaced walls, a rim embracing the periphcries of the disks andserving to hold them in fixed spaced relation to each other, a diaphragmwithin the space between the walls, cushioning devices gripping theperiphery of the diaphragm to hold it in position, a stylus barconnected with the diaphragm and pivoted within the space between thewalls, and a supporting arch between the diaphragm securing means andthe stylus bar to prevent interference between the diaphragm supportingdevices and the stylus bar.

AGOSTINO noeATr LOUIS ARONNE.

